H1 rejected, case sent to AAU - Please help!!

[alien77]

Hello,

My consultant applied for a H1-B visa few months back and my application got rejected by the NE service center because the contract agreement documents between the client and the consultant were not properly reviewed. The consulant's attorney applied for an appeal to the 'Administrative Appeals Unit (AAU), Washington DC'. I have looked up that the case processing at DC has a back log as long as one and a half year.

My current status is F-2 dependent status.

Here are the questions I have:

1. It is possible that my case can take as long as 1 year to be resolved. Would I be able to apply for a H1 for the next fiscal year (2006) while this appeal case at AAU is being processed?

2. During this processing, would I be able to leave the country? Given that I am on an F-2 status currently, I am assuming that I will not have a problem with legal status.

3. The client may not be able to wait until the case is resolved at the AAU, and may void the client-consultant agreement. What happens with AAU case processing if such a situation arises.

4. The consultant applied for my H-1 visa in july 2004 and my employment agreement says that I need to be an employee for a period of 12 months, and bear any losses if I move out before 12 months. But since the visa got rejected, would I be obligated to the consultancy until the AAU completes the appeal processing?

5. Also, since the agreement with the consultant happened in July 2004 and I wasnt on a legal working status, would I be obligated to the consultant company from the day I start working or from the day the agreement was made?

6. I know it could be a dumb question to ask, but what could be my options at this point? My consultant is totally tight-lipped and doesnt comment much on the whole ordeal.

I would really appreciate if someone could help.

Thanks.

 

[alien77]

Thank you very much for your pointers rincytom. I feel a little better from the rut now. However, just to clarify your doubt, a client company has agreed to take me in through the consultant. The client company has prepared a contract which was mutually agreed upon and used as evidence that a position was existing at the time of H1 filing. I believe there are no other contractual agreements my consultant filed along with this agreement.

Unfortunately, the official who processed H1 visa application overlooked this contract agreement between the client and consultant and rejected the application, saying that no contract agreements were produced as evidence. That was the reason why the attorney filed for an appeal.

At this point, I have another question I forgot to ask earlier:
1. Does Administrative Appeals Unit (AAU), washington DC processing times depend on the complexity of the case or in the order of the applications they receive?

Thanks very much.